SBL -100

CeLLULAR STRUCTURE AND

FUNCTION
LECTURE 2
2023-24 SemESTER II
Anita Roy
School of Biological Sciences,
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

1
Cross-section of a bacterial cell

2
 The Nucleoid

DNA compaction with the help of proteins

DNA supercoiling
4.6 million base pairs

Ref: doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7120631
The flagella propels the bacteria
 The story behind the first modern antibiotic : Penicillin

Nobel Prize in Medicine/Physiology, 1945

The story behind the first modern antibiotic : Penicillin

IMA Fungus, 2011, 2(1):87-95

Mechanism of action: Penicillin
Cross-section of a eukaryotic cell (e.g. Human cell) – cellular organelles are
indicated

8
Electron micrograph of budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) cell

Ref: DOI: 10.1002/9781119374312.ch12

 CELL MEMBRANE
1. Chemically composed of lipids and proteins.

2. The lipids constitute the major component of the cell membrane or plasma membrane.

3. The polar groups of each molecular layer (or leaflet) were directed outward toward the aqueous environment just as the
hydrophobic fatty acyl chains would be protected from contact with the aqueous environment
 CELL MEMBRANE

(Left) Electron micrograph showing the structure of the plasma membrane of an erythrocyte after staining the tissue with the
heavy metal osmium. Osmium binds preferentially to the polar head groups of the lipid bilayer. The arrows denote the inner and
outer edges of the membrane. (Right) Muscle cell showing similar structure of both the plasma membrane
(PM) and the membrane of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), a calcium-storing compartment of the cytoplasm.
Lipid composition of cell membrane
 The Fluid Mosaic Model of cell membrane
1. The lipids in the bilayer of a fluid-mosaic membrane is present in a fluid state, and individual lipid molecules can
move laterally within the plane of the membrane.

2. The membrane proteins are present as a “mosaic” that penetrates the lipid sheet.

Proposed by S. Jonathan Singer and Garth Nicolson in 1972

 LIPID RAFTS

1. Some lipids (cholesterol being one of them) tend to assemble into microdomains. Because of their distinctive physical
properties including rigidity, they float within the more fluid and disordered environment of the membrane phospholipids.
These microdomains are called “RAFTS”.

2. Membrane proteins tend to get concentrated in Lipid rafts creating functional microdomains.
 Importance of cell membrane
1. Compartmentalization : The plasma membrane encloses the contents of the entire cell, whereas the nuclear and cytoplasmic
membranes enclose diverse intracellular spaces. Membrane compartmentalization allows specialized activities to proceed
without external interference and enables cellular activities to be regulated independently of one another.

2. Selectively permeable barrier : Membranes prevent the unrestricted exchange of molecules from one side to the other. The
plasma membrane allows entry of movement of select elements into and out of the cell.
 Ions and macromolecules require specific channels or
Movement of small molecules by passive diffusion transporters for movement in/out of the cell. These
through the lipid bilayer transporters or channels are proteins embedded in the
lipid bilayer.
3. Solute transport : The plasma membrane contains the machinery for physically transporting substances from
one side of the membrane to another, often from a region where the solute is present at low concentration into a region
where that solute is present at much higher concentration. Example: glucose transporters and ion channels.

4. Responding to external signals : The plasma membrane plays a critical role in the response of a cell to external
stimuli, a process known as signal transduction. Membranes possess receptors (proteins) that bind to external signals and
transmits the signals to the inside of the cell. Signals generated at the plasma membrane may tell a cell to prepare for cell
division, to move toward a higher concentration of a particular compound, to release calcium from internal stores.

5. Intercellular interactions: The plasma membrane of multicellular organisms mediates the interactions between a cell and its
neighbors. The plasma membrane allows cells to recognize and signal one another, to adhere when appropriate, and to
exchange materials and information.

6. Energy transduction : Membranes are intimately involved in the processes by which one type of energy is converted
to another type (energy transduction). Membranes are also involved in the transfer of chemical energy from carbohydrates
and fats to ATP. In prokaryotes this takes place on the cytoplasmic membrane while in eukaryotes, the machinery for these
energy conversions is contained within membranes of chloroplasts and mitochondria.
 CELL WALL
1. Cells of algae, fungi and higher plants have an outer cell wall.

2. It is composed of polysaccharides. For example, plant cell wall contains cellulose (polymer of glucose) while fungi wall is a
polymer of N-acetylglucosamine.
 THE ENDOMEMBRANE SYSTEM
1. Endomembrane (endo-‘within’) system consists of the
endoplasmic reticulum (ER), the Golgi apparatus,
endosomes and secretory vesicles, lysosomes and
vacuoles. These are present in a jelly like “CYTOPLASM”.

2. This group of membrane bound organelles work

together in protein and lipid synthesis; its processing,
packaging and transport to their respective locations
inside a cell.

3. The basic elements of the boundary membrane arise

from the endoplasmic reticulum, but many of the
membrane proteins and the soluble internal proteins are
taken up from the cytosol. Synthesis of a few lipid
elements such as sphingomyelin and glycolipids begins in
the ER and is completed in the Golgi.
 ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM
1. ER membrane is continuous with outer nuclear membrane. It is
a network of tubular structure.

2. The ER may be rough or smooth depending on the presence or

absence of ribosomes on their surface.

3. Proteins that are synthesized by the ribosomes on the rough ER

enter the ER lumen (space enclosed by the ER membranes).

4. The proteins are folded by “chaperone proteins” present in the

lumen to achieve their functional conformation. Misfolded
proteins are marked for degradation and exported to the
cytoplasm. This achieves “PROTEIN HOMOEOSTASIS”.

5. Proteins are also modified in the ER by addition of sugar

moieties – a process called “GLYCOSYLATION”.
Transmission electron micrograph of a portion of the rough ER.
The division of the rough ER into a cisternal space (which
is devoid of ribosomes) and a cytosolic space is evident.
I. As each protein is synthesized in the rough ER, it becomes inserted
into the lipid bilayer in a predictable orientation determined by its
amino acid sequence. This orientation is maintained throughout its
travels in the endomembrane system, as illustrated in this figure.

II. The carbohydrate chains, which are first added in the ER, provide a
convenient way to assess membrane sidedness because they are
always present on the cisternal side of the cytoplasmic membranes.
6. ER is also involved in the synthesis of lipids –phospholipids.

Electron micrograph of a Leydig cell from the testis showing the extensive
smooth ER where steroid hormones are synthesized.
7. ER resident proteins are retained while others are then exported to their destination. This export occurs by a controlled
pathway via the Golgi apparatus and is called the “SECRETORY PATHWAY”.

I. Materials follow the biosynthetic (or secretory) pathway from the

endoplasmic reticulum, through the Golgi complex, and out to various
locations including lysosomes, endosomes, secretory vesicles, secretory
granules, vacuoles, and the plasma membrane.

II. Materials follow the endocytic pathway from the cell surface to the
interior by way of endosomes and lysosomes, where they are generally
degraded by lysosomal enzymes.
 EXIT OF CARGO FROM THE ER- THE ERGIC

1. The exit sites of the RER cisternae are devoid of ribosomes and serve as
places where the first transport vesicles in the biosynthetic pathway are
formed.

2. Transport vesicles fuse with one another to form larger vesicles and
interconnected tubules in the region between the ER and
Golgi complex. This region has been named the ERGIC (endoplasmic
reticulum Golgi intermediate compartment), and
the vesicular-tubular carriers that form there are called VTCs.

3. Movement of VTCs occurs along tracks composed of microtubules.

 THE GOLGI APPARATUS - DISCOVERY

1. In 1898, Golgi applied a metallic stain to nerve cells from the brain and discovered a darkly stained reticular network located
near the cell nucleus. This network, which was later identified in other cell types and named the Golgi complex, helped earn
its discoverer the Nobel Prize in 1906.

2. The Golgi complex remained a center of controversy for decades between those who believed that the organelle existed in
living cells and those who believed it was an artifact formed during preparation for microscopy.

Confocal microscopy image (light microscopy) of a cell. The Golgi is depicted in red
and the ER in green.
 THE GOLGI APPARATUS
1. The structure of the Golgi shows flattened, disk-like, membranous cisternae with dilated rims and associated vesicles and
tubules.

2. The Golgi is primarily a processing plant for proteins and certain lipids like glycolipids.

3. The Golgi complex is divided into several functionally distinct compartments arranged along an axis from the cis or entry face
closest to the ER to the trans or exit face at the opposite end of the stack.
4. Proteins from the ER via ERGIC first enters the Cis Golgi Network (CGN) which is primarily a sorting station that distinguishes
between proteins to be shipped back to the ER and those that are allowed to proceed to the next Golgi stack.

5. Proteins then enter the cisterna of the Golgi network beginning from Cis-medial and ending with the trans cisternae. Proteins
are modified further by further processing of the glycosylation (sugar moieties attached to the protein).

6. Proteins then reach the Trans Golgi Network (TGN) where they are packaged into vesicles that are destined to deliver them to
various parts of the cell such as plasma membrane, lysosomes or simply secreted out of the cell.

7. Vesicles bud from the peripheral tubular domain of each cisterna carrying the protein cargo. The vesicles are guided on tracks
of microtubules.